Cranford police make drug arrest at pedestrian decoy location

A Union man and his passenger were arrested for narcotics possession and were held on outstanding warrants after the car they were in failed to stop as police conducted a pedestrian decoy program on Thursday, Oct. 15.

The vehicle driven by Peter Skrdlant, 50, failed to yield for Officer Durkin as he was crossing the intersection and was stopped by other officers at 9:47 a.m.

After the stop, Skrdlant was found to be in possession of cocaine and paraphernalia; he also had outstanding warrants out of Union and East Orange, He was issued summonses for driving with a suspended license, driving without a seatbelt, failure to yield to a pedestrian, careless driving, and possession of a controlled dangerous substance in a motor vehicle.

Passenger Tonette Venable, 38, of Union was charged with possession of cocaine and possession of paraphernalia. She also was held on warrants out of East Orange and Newark.

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A Union man was charged with driving while intoxicated after he was stopped for running a red light on Saturday, Oct. 17.

Jeffrey Helman, 48, was charged after he was stopped by Officer Thomas Stiansen at 1:57 a.m. on Raritan Road. After the stop, Helman was reportedly found to be intoxicated. He was also charged with failure to observe the signal, failure to inspect a vehicle, and refusal to submit to a breath test.